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Cowboys still the NFL’s ‘most valuable’

COWBOYS: Fans cheer during the second half of an NFL preseason football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Baltimore Ravens Saturday, Aug. 16, in Arlington, Texas. Photo: Associated Press/Brandon Wade

(Reuters) – The Dallas Cowboys are the most valuable National Football League (NFL) team for an eighth consecutive year, more than double the average league value, according to an annual survey by business magazine Forbes.

The Cowboys, whose total revenue during the 2013 season was $560 million, are worth $3.2 billion, a whopping rise of 39 percent over last year, Forbes said in a statement on Wednesday.

Dallas, who two years ago became the first North American sports franchise to top the $2 billion mark, have missed the playoffs for four consecutive seasons and have not won a Super Bowl since the 1995 season.

Yet the only sports franchise in the world worth more than the Cowboys is Spanish soccer club Real Madrid, valued at $3.4 billion, Forbes said.

Forbes said the average value of the NFL’s 32 teams rose 23 percent last year to $1.43 billion, with each team taking in a record $170 million of national revenue, mainly from league-wide broadcasting and licensing fees.

The Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks, were ranked 15th with a value of $1.33 billion, a 23 percent jump over last year.